Do you see dying churches where you live?

My husband and I have been in search of a new church home for about a year now. We have relocated to a new area, necessitating the search. As we have visited various churches it has been startling what's out there. I knew that many churches were declining in numbers and that there was a high percentage of dying churches but I had no idea how wide spread the problem was or how bad it really is out there. It's easy to neglect the Kingdom and be solely focused on the ministries of the church you belong to. Ministerial staff should explore the Kingdom and visit other churches more regularly to get a better pulse for Kingdom health. This is something I believe all churches should be more concerned about.

I would define a "dying" church to be one in which the weekly worship attendance has been on a steady decline for several years. In addition, the retention percentage of first time visitors is extremely low. Most likely, these dying churches have very few, if any baptisms each year and if you were to poll the ministerial staff they would say the church is weakest in evangelism.

But going deeper than that, there seems to be a dysfunction or illness in these dying churches. The DNA of the church has either been corrupted or was malformed during birth. Often the church members tend to be closed minded, protective of traditions and focused on living in the past and the memories of better times. These members also tend to live isolated lives from the rest of the world, unaware of the personal needs or spiritual well being of their neighbors.

I have found the pastors of these dying churches tend to preach heavily on the need for more evangelism, reminding church members of the great commandment and the need to share the gospel with those who have not heard it. These pastors are in a balancing act between not offending or angering current members while at the same time attempting to change unhealthy methods and behaviors slowing church growth and contributing to the lack of vitality. Pastors of dying churches find their time consumed with attending meetings in order to maintain the organization and see an increase in their weekly number of personal hours spent on church ministry.

The churches that are close to death have additional characteristics. Unfortunately, they tend to consist of mostly gray haired members and their Children's Ministry is either non-existent or quite low in attendance. Looking from the outside, it appears these churches lack any type of urgency or concern for others. This is something that is especially needed if they are to pull themselves out of the spiral of death they find themselves in and yet it is not present. Churches on the brink of death have pastors that are exhausted from trying to help breath life into their flock. They often work 60+ hours a week and carry the majority, if not all of the ministerial responsibilities and needs. And worst of all churches close to death are usually completely unaware of their imminent demise. The people are so out of touch with reality that it never enters their minds that they are on the brink of closing their doors for good.

Sadly, many dying churches don't see the writing on the wall even if the pastor has been sounding the alarm for quite some time. And the further they proceed in their dive, the harder it seems to be for them to pull out of their spiraling death, avoiding catastrophic injury.

I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed an increase in dying churches or has stories of similar experiences. If you are willing to share, I'd like to hear your story.